PowerColor Radeon 9600 (low profile) - help compare to my current card please.

[Cheetah8799]

ok, I know most of you guys don't like Low Profile cards. But I value the space it saves me, so I stick with it. The problem for me though is that I like to play games too, and am looking forward to HL2 (if it ever gets released...).

To get to the point... PowerColor has started selling the Radeon 9600 low-profile card here in the US. NewEgg just started carrying it, finally! I currently am using a PowerColor Radeon 9100 (which nobody sells anymore, and I don't know the specs for). I know the 9100 is a little better than the 9200se from what I've read. I want to know how much better the 9600 will be than the 9100, if at all. Sadly I am not a video hardware expert, so I am coming here for help.

NewEgg Product Link
PowerColor product link

Specs from newegg for 9600
POWERCOLOR ATI Radeon9600 Low Profile Model R96LE-C3 - RETAIL
Specifications:
Chipset: ATI RADEON 9600
Memory: 128 MB DDR
Bus: AGP 8X (Low Profile)
Core Speed: 325
Memory Speed: 200 x2

PowerColor's site includes some more info:
"optimized architecture" for DirectX 9

Specs for PowerColor 9100 low-profile (my current card)
Sorry I don't have much info here...
Radeon 9100 chipset
AGP 4x
64mb DDR



Thanks for any help and insight anybody can provide.
-Josh

 

[TheAudit]

It should be loads better, a noticeable difference.
Just how much better exactly? Well, they used to compare the 9100 to the MX 440 (they were about the same). The 9600 is a big step up from the MX series.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

9100 = DX8
9600 = DX9

How about "Utter frickin craploads different?" In nVidia terms, you're graduating from "geForce3 Ti200" to "geForce FX 5600"

- M4H

 

[Quixfire]

Also the 9100 is a warmed over 8500 with clock speeds around 275/400 and the 9600 non-pro are, as you stated, 325/400.

 

[Blastman]

Assuming your Powercolor 9100 64MB is not a low profile card with 64bit memory bus. Its performance would be about the same as a 9600. They both will score in the ~ 9000 range in 3Dmark2001 on a fast system.

That low profile Powercolor 9600 is on a 64bit memory bus which usually means about a 30% performance hit over the normal 128bit 9600?s --- which means it?s probably 30% slower than your 9100.

You would have top go to a 9600pro if you want a jump in performance.

 

[Cheetah8799]

My current card is a 9100 low-profile, so it too has the 64bit memory bus.

 

[Blastman]

A few 3DMark2001 scores from around the web ?

9600 128MB 325/200 ? ? ?9104 ? (Athlon XP 2600+)
9100 128MB 250/200 ? ? ? 8760 ? (P4 2.48 -- 550fsb)
9100 64MB 250/230 ? ? ? 8894 ? (P4 2.4 -- 533fsb)

A 64bit 9600 is going to take a big performance hit over that 9600.

 

[Blastman]

Since a 9100 is about as fast as a 9600 (9100 is probably a little slower overall). Your 64bit 9100 should be about as fast as the 64bit 9600 your thinking of upgrading to.

Conclusion:

You might see a small increase in performance but it would be marginal. Not worth spending money on this upgrade at all IMHO.

Better to go for a full sized card 9600/9600pro.

 

[tenchi]

How do you know the low profile ones has only 64 bit memory bus?

 

[Cheetah8799]

The mfgr says they are 64bit.

EDIT: actually finding where I read that is proving to be harder than expected... I think it's kinda common knowledge that they can only do 64bit on the low profile cards.

EDIT2: The powercolor page says this: " Four parallel rendering pipelines process up to 1.6 billion pixels per second 128-bit full floating point precision enables billions of color variations to render the same lighting and effects as Hollywood studios"

Maybe the 9600 really is 128bit??...

 

[NYHoustonman]

I would go for a 9600 Pro if I were you, only ~$30 more...

 

[Blastman]

powercolor?

Model
Chipset
- RADEON 9600


Support Memory/bandwidth
- 128MB DDR SDRAM
- 64 bit


Connectors
- VGA
- TV-out (Composite connector)
- DVI Connector

 

[Blastman]

Newegg lists the Powercolor 9600 128MB low-profile (64bit) at ?$122

[*]You can get a regular 9600 for the same cost that is 30% faster.

For only $30 more you can get a 9600 pro ? either ?

Transcend ATI Radeon 9600 PRO 128MB ? $152
CONNECT3D ATI RADEON 9600 PRO 128MB DDR ?$151

[*]These pro?s are 30% faster than the regular 9600 cards.

[*] pro is a huge upgrade (60% faster) than what you?re looking at.